Ironing-board.



, Patented January 31, 1905.

PATENT OFFICEo ySAMUEL J. BECKVVITI-I, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

vlFiONlNrGi-BOAFID.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 781,264, dated January'l, 1905. I Application iled May 18, 1963- -Serial No. 157,600.

To wZwh/Um t may concern. 4 Be it known that I, SAMUEL J. lBnoKwrlH, acitizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin 'Ironing-Boards, of which the following is a specification.

Myinvention relatesto ironing-boards; and more particularly to thatclass of ironingboards especially adapted for the ironing of sleeves ofshirts, shirt-waists, and other sleevegarments in which it is desirableto secure a smooth-ironed surface without the formation of creasestherein; and the primary object of my invention is to provide a simpleand cheaply-constructed ironing-board for this purpose and one which maybe knocked down and reduced to small compass for purposes-of shipment orstorage.

Another object of my-invention is to. pro-V vide an ironing-boardcapableof being usedeither side up, for which purpose the top and bottomhorizontal members are duplicates of each other.

To these and other ends my invention resides in an improved knockdown orcollapsible ironing-board having the novel features of construction andmanner of manipulation substantially as hereinafter described, andpointed out in the claims.

The improved article constituting the subject-matter of my invention isillustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is asideelevational view partly broken out. Fig. 2 is a top plan view, and Fig.3 is a detail view of one of the intermediate supporting and spacingblocks.

Referring to the drawings, 5 designates each of the main horizontalboards of the device, which are duplicates in form and construction,each consisting of a relatively `long tapering board of a length andwidth suitable to accommodate the sleeve of any sleeve-garment, suoli asa shirt-waist, when slipped over the smaller end thereof. These boardsare provided in the end portions'of their inner opposed facesA withholes or sockets 6,adapted to receive and snugly fit the end pintles7'of a pair of duplicate blocks 8, which latter serve the doublefunction of supporting the top board 5in 0p- .erative position and ofspacing the two boards a suitable distance apart to allow of theintroduction and proper manipulation of a garment over the upper boardand between it and the lower board, which serves as a supporting 'base.rlhe detachable connections between the respective ends'of the blocks 8and the inner surfaces of the boards 5 are such that said connectionsarelocated entirely within the planes of the operating-surfaces of theboards. More specifically, the sockets 6 eX- tend but partly through theboards 5 and the pins 7 are of suicient length only to be inserted intosaid sockets` until the ends of the blocks engage the inner surfaces ofthe boards. In manipulating the device the parts are assembled intherelative positions shown in with the taper of the board. When the sleevehas been fully placed on the board, the narrow end of the board is swungback and re- AFigs. 1 and '2, the lower board resting upon c engagedwith the supporting-block 8, lwherel upon the sleeve may be ironedwithout the l formation of creases by simply turning it as necesssaryaround upon the board on which it c has been placed. It will beobservedthat the supporting and spacing blocks 8 are of a substantialwidth relatively to the transverse dimensions of the ends of theboards,vvhichy affords a broad and -stable support for the upper boardand a substantially rigidgconnection with the lower board constitutingthe baseplate or rest of the device, and this is obtained without thenecessity of any positive connections or uniting and securing meansbetween the parts. When the device is not in use, the parts can readilybe separated and laid away in close and compact order, requiring but aminimum of space, until required for subsequent use, whereupon they canbe reassembled in operative form with a minimum of time and work. Itwill also be observed as constituting a meritorious feature of thedevice that it is double in character-that is` capable of being usedeither side up-the boards 5 5 being twins and likewise the spacing andsupporting blocks 8 8. rlhis construction also conduces greatly tOlessening the cost of manufacture, as it reduces the number ofdiiferently-formed elements to only two.

1 am aware that foldable ironing-boards the members whereofl are unitedpartially or wholly by hinge-joints are old; but my invention isdistinguished therefrom in that it employs no hinge-joints at all, butmerely pinand-socket joints to unite the relatively-foldable elements,which latter are capable of being separated by merely drawing them apartand subsequently disposed of in iiat surface contact when collapsed andout of use.

I claimi l. A collapsible ironing-board for the purposes describedcomprising a pair of parallel duplicate boards interchangeable to formironing and supporting members, respectively, and intermediate duplicatesupporting and spacing blocks having pin-and-soclet connections with theend portions, respectively, of the opposed inner faces of said boards,said pin-and-socket connections being located inwardly beyond the planesof the Operatingsurfaces of the boards, substantially as described.

2. A collapsible ironing-board for the purposes described comprising apair of parallel duplicate boards having holes or sockets formed in theend portions of their inner opposed faces and interchangeable to forniironing and supporting members, respecti \'ely,and intermediateduplicate supporting and spacing blocks Of a width suiiicicnt toconstitute a broad rest for the upper board, said blocks having at theirOpposite ends pintles removably engaging the holes or sockets in theboards, substantially as described.

3. A collapsible ironing-board for the purposes described comprising apair of parallel duplicate boards having holes or sockets formed in andpartially through the end portions Of their inner opposed faces andinterchangeable to form ironing and supporting members, respectively,and intermediate duplicate supporting and spacing blocks of a widthsufiicient to constitute abroad rest for the upper board, said blockshaving at their opposite ends pintles adapted to removably andinterchangeably engage said holes or sockets in the boards,substantially as described.

SAMUEL J. BECKVVITH.

Witnesses:

SAMUEL N. POND, FREDERICK C. GOODWIN.

